CN114630417B

CN114630417B - Coordinated positioning via side link resources

Info

Publication number: CN114630417B
Application number: CN202111509177.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: R·基廷; 陶涛; 刘勇; 谭钧
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2020-12-11
Filing date: 2021-12-10
Publication date: 2024-04-09
Anticipated expiration: 2041-12-10
Also published as: WO2022120817A1; CN114630417A; US20240022375A1; EP4260574A1

Abstract

Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to coordinated positioning via side link resources. The first terminal device sends a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including a second terminal device. The first message indicates side link resources for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device. After receiving the first message, the second terminal device determines a first sidelink resource from the sidelink resources for transmitting a first reference signal for locating the first terminal device, and then transmits the first reference signal to the first terminal device via the first sidelink resource. With this solution, a side link based positioning solution can be implemented. In particular, resource allocation for transmitting RSs may be achieved even in partial coverage or out-of-coverage scenarios where at least a portion of the devices involved in the positioning procedure cannot access the network device.

Description

Coordinated positioning via side link resources

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications and, in particular, relate to a method, apparatus, device, and computer-readable storage medium for coordinated positioning via side-link resources.

Background

Determining the location or position of a device accessing a wireless communication network may be useful for many applications including, for example, automatic driving, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. During release 16, work has been done in the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) for local positioning support in New Radios (NRs). As a result of this work, positioning solutions such as downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), downlink departure angle (DL-AoD), uplink arrival angle (UL-AoA), enhanced cell ID (E-CID), and Multi-cell round trip time (Multi-RTT) are specified for the 16 th edition of NR positioning.

In general, in a wireless positioning system, if a device (such as a mobile terminal, a vehicle, etc.) wants to obtain its position, the device needs to exchange and measure a plurality of Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) using a plurality of positioning devices. Thus, during the positioning procedure, both the device to be positioned and the plurality of positioning devices need to be allocated appropriate resources to transmit PRSs. Therefore, resource allocation for transmitting PRSs is very important in a wireless positioning system.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for coordinated positioning via side link resources. Embodiments (if any) that do not fall within the scope of the claims should be construed as examples useful for understanding the various embodiments of the present disclosure.

In a first aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device comprises at least one processor; at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first terminal device to transmit a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting Reference Signals (RSs) from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device; and receiving a first RS for locating the first terminal device from the second terminal device via the first sidelink resource determined from the sidelink resources.

In a second aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device comprises at least one processor; at least one memory including computer program code; wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second terminal device to receive a first message from the first terminal device, the first message indicating side chain resources for transmitting an RS from a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device to the first terminal device; determining a first sidelink resource from the sidelink resources for transmitting a first RS for locating the first terminal device; and transmitting the first RS to the first terminal device via the first side link resource.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method includes sending, at a first terminal device, a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including a second terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for sending an RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device. The method also includes receiving a first RS from the second terminal device for locating the first terminal device via a first sidelink resource determined from the sidelink resources.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method includes receiving, at a second terminal device, a first message from a first terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting an RS from a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device to the first terminal device. The method further includes determining a first sidelink resource from the sidelink resources for transmitting a first RS for locating the first terminal device. The method also includes transmitting the first RS to the first terminal device via the first side link resource.

In a fifth aspect, a first terminal device is provided. The first terminal device comprises means for sending a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for sending an RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device. The first terminal device further comprises means for receiving a first RS for locating the first terminal device from the second terminal device via the first sidelink resource determined from the sidelink resources.

In a sixth aspect, a second terminal device is provided. The second terminal device comprises means for receiving a first message from the first terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting an RS from a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device to the first terminal device. The second terminal device further comprises means for determining, from the side link resources, a first side link resource for transmitting a first RS for locating the first terminal device. The second terminal device further comprises means for transmitting the first RS to the first terminal device via the first sidelink resource.

In a seventh aspect, a computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided. The computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the fourth aspect.

It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 illustrates signaling flows for coordinated positioning via side link resources according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates signaling flow of a feedback mechanism during coordinated positioning via side-link resources according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an example block diagram of resource allocation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus according to some other example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for practicing the example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements.

Detailed Description

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described merely for the purpose of illustrating and helping those skilled in the art understand and achieve the objects of the present disclosure without any limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments described herein may be implemented in various other ways besides those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

References in the present disclosure to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "has," "having," "includes," "including" and/or "containing" when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

(a) Pure hardware circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry only), and

(b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (as applicable):

(i) Combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

(ii) Any portion of the hardware processor(s) (including digital signal processor (s)) with software, and memory(s) that work together to cause a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions, and

(c) Hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware)

The operation is performed, but the software may not exist when the operation is not required.

The definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As another example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also encompasses hardware-only circuitry or a processor (or multiple processors) or an implementation of hardware circuitry or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses (e.g., and if applicable to the particular claim element) a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit of a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as New Radio (NR), long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and the like. Furthermore, communication between a terminal device and a network device in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, future fifth generation (5G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol now known or later developed. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there will, of course, also be future types of communication techniques and systems that may be used to embody the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure should not be limited to only the above-described systems.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network devices may refer to Base Stations (BS) or Access Points (APs), e.g., node BS (NodeB or NB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), NR NB (also known as gNB), remote Radio Unit (RRU), radio Head (RH), remote Radio Head (RRH), relay, integrated and Access Backhaul (IAB) nodes, low power nodes (such as femto, pico), non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-terrestrial network devices (such as satellite network devices, low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites), aircraft network devices, etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied.

As used herein, the term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user Equipment (UE), subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless terminals, mobile stations, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless client devices (CPE), internet of things (loT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or automated processing chain environment), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

As used herein, the term "positioning terminal device" refers to a terminal device in a communication network that can send an RS to a device to be positioned, i.e. with auxiliary positioning capabilities.

As used herein, the term "resource" or "transmission resource" may refer to any resource used to perform communication, such as a resource in the time domain, a resource in the frequency domain, a resource in the spatial domain, a resource in the code domain, or any other resource supporting communication, etc. Some example embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with resources in the frequency domain or the time domain as examples of transmission resources. It should be appreciated that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other resource domains.

As used herein, the term "side link" refers to a direct communication link and/or discovery link between two or more terminal devices, the term "PC5" refers to an interface that enables communication and/or discovery between two or more terminal devices without passing through any network node, and the term "PC5 direct link" refers to a link established between two or more terminal devices over a PC5 interface. The terms "side link" and "PC5 direct link" described herein are equivalent to each other.

As used herein, the term "RS" may refer to any signal that may be used to estimate a location or position of a device, such as a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PRS, or any other RS suitable for enabling positioning, and the like. In the following, some example embodiments of the present disclosure are described with PRS as an example of RS. Note that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other RSs.

Recently, wireless positioning technology has developed rapidly and has received a great deal of attention, and various positioning solutions have been proposed and prescribed by 3GPP in release 16. With the rapid development of IoT technology, in release 17, other efforts to investigate NR localization of industrial IoT-related scenes will be studied.

In conventional timing-based positioning techniques (e.g., DL-TDOA and multi-RTT), implementation of a positioning solution relies on receiving RSs (e.g., PRSs) from multiple positioning devices simultaneously or at similar times by the device to be positioned. For ranging or RTT techniques, implementation of a positioning solution relies on exchanging and measuring RSs between a device to be positioned and a plurality of positioning devices. More specifically, the device to be located transmits an RS to a plurality of locating devices (e.g., three locating devices), and then receives the RS from the plurality of locating devices. In this way, RTT can be estimated and a position can be derived based at least on RTT. Therefore, resource allocation for transmitting RSs is very important in a wireless location system.

Conventionally, network devices are typically used as central control devices responsible for resource allocation in the network. However, while wireless networks have been deployed well, there are still scenarios in which devices (including devices to be located and locating devices) cannot access network devices for some reason, such as poor wireless communication conditions, some unexpected obstacles, and the like. Thus, in some scenarios, at least part of the positioning device and the device to be positioned cannot access the network device, which is referred to as partial coverage or out of coverage. Thus, in a partial coverage or out-of-coverage scenario, conventional positioning solutions may have resource allocation problems.

The inventors of the present invention have noted that terminal devices in a wireless communication network may communicate with each other via direct communication (e.g., side link) in addition to communication with network devices. Thus, a sidelink-based positioning solution may be implemented, in particular for partial coverage or out-of-coverage scenarios. In view of this, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, a solution for coordinated positioning via side link resources is presented.

In the proposed solution, a terminal device to be located (also called first terminal device) sends a first message to a plurality of location terminal devices. Specifically, the first message indicates side chain resources for transmitting the RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device. One of the positioning terminal devices (hereinafter also referred to as a second terminal device) may determine a first sidelink resource for transmitting a first reference signal from the second terminal device to the first terminal device from the sidelink resources, and then transmit the first RS to the first terminal device via the determined sidelink resource. In this way, a sidelink-based positioning solution may be implemented. Even in partial coverage or out-of-coverage scenarios where some terminal devices involved in the positioning procedure are not connected to the network device, resource allocation for RS transmissions can still be achieved.

It should be appreciated that while the proposed positioning solution is particularly advantageous for partially overlaying or overlaying an external scene, it is also suitable for implementation in an overlay scene.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which some example embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented. The example communication network 100 includes a network device 130, a first terminal device 110, and a neighboring device 150 of the first terminal device 110. The communication network 100 further comprises a plurality of positioning terminal devices 120-1 to 120-3 (collectively positioning terminal devices 120) for assisting in positioning the first terminal device 110. For ease of illustration, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, positioning terminal device 120-1 is also referred to as second terminal device 120-1, positioning terminal device 120-2 is also referred to as third terminal device 120-2, and positioning terminal device 120-4 is also referred to as fourth terminal device 120-3.

In the example of fig. 1, network device 130 provides a service area referred to as cell 140. The first terminal device 110 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 are within the coverage of the cell 140, but the first terminal device 110 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 cannot access the network device 130 for some reasons such as being blocked by some obstacle, being in a coverage hole of the cell 140, being bad in wireless communication conditions, etc. The second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 and the neighboring device 150 are outside the coverage of the cell 140, which also indicates that the access network device 130 failed.

As shown in fig. 1, the first terminal device 110 and the positioning terminal device 120 may communicate via a physical communication channel or link, such as a side link or PC5 direct link. Further, as a specific example, the first terminal device 110 is a device to be located, and the first terminal device 110 may exchange and measure RSs with the location terminal devices 120-1 to 120-3 to determine its location.

Communication in communication environment 100 may be implemented in accordance with any suitable communication protocol including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), fifth generation (5G), etc. cellular communication protocols, wireless local area network communication protocols (such as Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.), and/or any other protocols currently known or developed in the future. Further, the communication may use any suitable wireless communication technology including, but not limited to: code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), frequency Division Duplex (FDD), time Division Duplex (TDD), multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), discrete fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM), and/or any other technique currently known or developed in the future.

It should be understood that the number of devices shown in fig. 1 (such as first terminal device 110, positioning terminal device 120, network device 130, and neighboring device 150) and their connections are for illustration purposes only and are not meant to be limiting in any way. Communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of devices suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Although not shown, it should be understood that one or more additional first terminal devices and positioning terminal devices may be located within or outside of the cell 140, and that one or more additional neighboring devices may be deployed within or outside of the cell 140 for each first terminal device 110. It should also be appreciated that in some examples, a homogeneous network-only deployment or a heterogeneous network-only deployment may be included in communication environment 100.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring now to fig. 2, fig. 2 illustrates a signaling flow 200 for coordinated positioning via side link resources according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the signaling flow 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1. The signaling flow 200 may relate to the first terminal device 110, the positioning terminal device 120 (including the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3), and the neighboring device 150.

Further, it should be understood that the order of signaling and actions in FIG. 2 are shown for illustrative purposes only. The order of signaling and actions shown in signaling diagram 200 may be performed in any suitable order suitable for implementing embodiments of the disclosure.

In the signaling flow 200, the first terminal device 110 is the device to be located and the neighboring device 150 is located in the vicinity of the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 may exchange and measure RSs with the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 to determine its location.

Furthermore, it should be understood that the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 are equivalent to each other as positioning terminal devices. In other words, although the operation of the second terminal device 120-1 will be mainly discussed below, the operation described for the second terminal device 120-1 is equally applicable to the third terminal device 120-2 and the fourth terminal device 120-3.

In operation, the first terminal device 110 detects 210 a requirement to obtain its location in response to a positioning trigger. One example of a location trigger condition is that the first terminal device 110 replies to a request from a location based application. Another example of a positioning trigger condition is the expiration of a timer of a periodic positioning procedure. It should be appreciated that the above example positioning trigger conditions are for illustration purposes only and do not imply any limitation. In other example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may detect a requirement to obtain its location in response to any suitable location trigger condition.

The first terminal device 110 then determines 220 a positioning terminal device 120, which positioning terminal device 120 can function as a positioning terminal device and assist the first terminal device 110 in determining its position. The determination of the positioning of the terminal device 120 may be accomplished in several ways. For example, the first terminal device 110 may store and maintain a list of devices that previously helped the first terminal device 110 estimate its location, and the first terminal device 110 may select the positioning terminal device 120 from the list. Alternatively, the first terminal device 110 may determine to locate the terminal device 120 through a current discovery mechanism. In some other example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may determine the positioning terminal device 120 by other suitable means, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In the example shown in connection with the signaling flow 200, the first terminal device 110 determines 220 to locate the terminal device 120, including the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3. The first terminal device sends 230-1 a first message to the second terminal device 120-1, also sends 230-2 a first message to the third terminal device 120-2, and further sends 230-3 a first message to the fourth terminal device 120-3. Specifically, the first message may indicate side chain resources for transmitting the RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices (i.e., the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3) to the first terminal device 110.

In some example embodiments, the first message may be sent to the positioning terminal device 120 in a broadcast manner or in a multicast/multicast manner. Alternatively, the first message may be sent in a unicast manner to the positioning terminal device 120. It should be appreciated that the first terminal device 110 may determine an appropriate manner for sending the first message, such as based on the number of positioning terminal devices 120, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. In this way, the way for sending the first message is more flexible.

In some example embodiments, the first message is transmitted via a physical side chain shared channel (PSSCH). It should be appreciated that in some other example embodiments, the first message may be sent via any suitable type of side link channel (such as a dedicated channel, a data channel, a common control channel, etc.) and any type of suitable side link message, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In this way, in contrast to conventional resource allocation mechanisms, the resource allocation relies solely on the network device (e.g., network device 130 in fig. 1), and the terminal device to be located (e.g., first terminal device 110 in fig. 1) according to embodiments of the present disclosure will act as a central controller responsible for the resource allocation.

In some example embodiments, the first message includes an identification of the determined positioning terminal device 120, such that any positioning terminal device 120 may determine the respective side chain resources based on the identification. For example, there may be a pre-configured mapping between the side link resources and the identities. The first terminal device 110 may determine and allocate side link resources according to a pre-configured mapping.

In some example embodiments, the identity of the positioning terminal device 120 may be a physical layer identity. Alternatively, in some other example embodiments, the identity of the positioning terminal device 120 may also be a higher layer (such as a medium access control layer, a radio resource control layer, a transport layer, a network layer, an application layer, etc.) identity. Alternatively, in some other example embodiments, the identification of the positioning terminal device 120 may also be a hardware identification or a user identification, etc. It should be understood that the identification may be represented in any suitable form and that the scope of the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In this way the overhead of the first message is minimized, since no additional information is needed in the first message other than the identification of the positioning terminal device.

Further, in some example embodiments, the first message may also include a resource configuration. The resource configuration indicates at least side link resources for transmitting the RS. In other words, the resource configuration may indicate more resources than the side link resources actually needed to transmit the RS. Each positioning terminal device 120 may determine a respective side link resource based on the identification and the resource configuration.

The side chain resources indicated by the resource configuration may be represented in any suitable manner. An example way is a comb resource, which may be represented by parameters like the size of the comb resource, the type of the comb resource, etc. Another example is a resource list that shows all side link resources. It should be appreciated that in other example embodiments, the side link resources indicated by the resource configuration may be represented in any suitable form, and the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect.

Further, the side link resources discussed herein may be any type of resource. In some example embodiments, the side-chain resource is a time resource. In an example of time resources, the resource configuration may include a set of time resources, such as a set of consecutive or non-consecutive subframes, OFDM symbols, physical resource blocks, and so on.

Alternatively or additionally, in some example embodiments, the side chain resources are frequency resources. In an example of frequency resources, the resource configuration may include a set of frequency resources, such as a set of contiguous or non-contiguous subcarriers, subbands, physical resource blocks, and so on.

Alternatively or additionally, in some example embodiments, the side chain resource is a code resource. In an example of code resources, the resource configuration may include a set of code resources, such as a set of orthogonal codewords, a precoding matrix index, and the like.

Alternatively or additionally, in some example embodiments, the side chain resource is a spatial resource. In an example of spatial resources, the resource configuration may include a set of spatial resources, such as a set of antenna ports or antenna beams, and the like.

It should be understood that the side link resources discussed herein may be of any suitable type, or may be a combination of different resource types, and the scope of the present invention is not limited in this respect. In this way, by including in the first message a resource allocation indicating at least the side link resources, the side link resource allocation by the first terminal device 110 may be more reasonable.

In some example embodiments, the resource configuration includes a set of resource offsets, wherein each resource offset indicates an offset from the second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources used for transmitting the RS. The second side link resource is used to transmit a second reference signal from the first terminal device 110 to the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120. In some example embodiments, the resource configuration includes a set of timing offsets indicating a time offset between a point in time when the second RS is received at the positioning terminal device 120 and a point in time when the positioning terminal device 120 transmits the RS to the first terminal device 110, respectively. In some other example embodiments, the resource configuration includes a set of frequency offsets indicating frequency offsets between carriers used by the second RS and carriers used to transmit RSs from the positioning terminal 120 to the first terminal 110, respectively. In some further example embodiments, the resource configuration includes a set of code offsets indicating code offsets between codes used by the second RS and codes used by RSs respectively transmitted from the positioning terminal device 120 to the first terminal device 110.

It should be appreciated that similar to the side link resources discussed above, the resource offsets discussed herein may be of any suitable type, or may be a combination of different resource types, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In this way, a more reasonable allocation of resources is achieved without introducing excessive overhead.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 sends 245 the second message to at least one of its neighboring device(s) 150. Specifically, the second message indicates side link resources allocated for exchanging RS and additional measurement results of the RS between the first terminal device 110 and the positioning terminal device 120. More specifically, the second message indicates a second side chain resource for transmitting the second RS from the first terminal device 110 to the positioning terminal device 120, and a side chain resource for transmitting the RS from the positioning terminal device 120 to the first terminal device 110.

In some example embodiments, the second message is sent via a side link control information (SCI) on a physical side link control channel (PSCCH). It should be appreciated that in some other example embodiments, the second message may be sent via any suitable type of side link channel (such as a dedicated channel, a data channel, a common control channel, etc.) and any type of suitable side link message, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

In this way, resources for transmitting the RS for locating the first device 110 are reserved, and collision of resource usage is avoided.

Upon receiving the first message from the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120-1 may determine 240-1 a first side link resource for transmitting the first RS from the second terminal device 120-1 to the first terminal device 110. Similar to the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 may determine 240-2 fourth sidelink resources for transmitting additional first RSs from the third terminal device 120-2 to the first terminal device 110, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 may determine 240-3 fifth sidelink resources for transmitting additional first RSs from the fourth terminal device 120-3 to the first terminal device 110.

More specifically, in the case where the first message includes an identity of the positioning terminal device 120, the second terminal device 120-1 may determine the first sidelink resource based on the set of identities (e.g., according to a pre-configured or pre-determined mapping relationship between sidelink resources and identities).

In addition, in some example embodiments, where the first message further includes a resource configuration indicating at least side link resources for transmitting the RS, the second terminal device 120-1 may determine the first side link resources for transmitting the first RS based on the group identification and the resource configuration. For example, the second terminal device 120-1 determines the first sidelink resources from the sidelink resources according to an ascending or descending order of identification.

Further, in some example embodiments, where the resource configuration includes a set of resource offsets, where each resource offset indicates an offset from the second side-link resource to one of the side-link resources. As shown in fig. 2, the first terminal device 110 transmits 250-1 the second RS to the second terminal device 120-1 via the second side link resource, also transmits 250-2 the second RS to the third terminal device 120-2, and further transmits 250-3 the second RS to the fourth terminal device 120-3.

In some example embodiments, the second RS that transmits the positioning device 120 is a sequence of predefined or preconfigured values that have been previously known to the first terminal device and the positioning device 120. That is, the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 receive the same second RS. In this way, the positioning terminal device 120 can obtain the corresponding second RS through blind detection.

Upon receiving the second RS from the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120-1 may first determine a second side chain resource corresponding to the received second RS. For example, reception of the second RS at the second terminal device 120-1, a carrier used by the second RS, a code used by the second RS, and the like are determined. The second terminal device 120-2 then determines the first sidelink resource based on the determined second sidelink resource and the set of resource offsets included in the first message.

Referring now to fig. 4, fig. 4 illustrates an example block diagram 400 of resource allocation according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 4, the comb timing offset is indicated in the first message. Further, the identification values of the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 are #1, #2, and #3, respectively. The first terminal device 110 sends a first message comprising the identities of the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 and a resource configuration indicating the comb timing offset (such as the size of the comb timing offset). In the case that the positioning terminal device 120 determines the corresponding side link resources according to the ascending order of the identity, upon receiving the first message from the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120-1 determines its first side link resource corresponding to the first timing offset 410, the third terminal device 120-2 determines the fourth side link resource corresponding to the second timing offset 420, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 determines the fifth side link resource corresponding to the third timing offset 430.

It should be understood that the example block diagram 400 of resource allocation is for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to imply any limitation. In other example embodiments, the side-chain resources may be of any suitable type or combination of different side-chain resource types. For example, the side link resource indicated by the first message may also be comb frequency offset, comb code offset, comb spatial offset, etc., and the scope of the invention is not limited in this respect. Further, the first message may include only the group identity, or may indicate the side chain resource in any suitable manner. Further, the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 may determine the first side link resource, the fourth side link resource, and the fifth side link resource according to any suitable pre-configured mapping, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

It should be appreciated that the above discussion regarding the determination of the first sidelink resource of the second terminal device 120-1 also applies to the determination of the fourth sidelink resource of the third terminal device 120-2 and the determination of the fifth sidelink resource of the fourth terminal device 120-2.

In this way, devices selected to aid in positioning can be allocated corresponding side link resources even if the devices are outside the coverage of the network device.

After discussing the determination of side-chain resources, we now return to FIG. 2.

The second terminal device 120-1 may send 260-1 the first RS to the first terminal device 110 via the determined first side link resource. Similar to the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 may send 260-2 the further first RS to the first terminal device 110 via the fourth side chain resource, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 may send 260-3 the further first RS to the first terminal device 110 via the fifth side chain resource.

The first terminal device 110 obtains 290 a set of first time differences, wherein the first time differences indicate a difference between a first point in time at which the first RS is received at the first terminal device 110 and a second point in time at which the second RS is transmitted at the first terminal device 110. More specifically, the first terminal device 110 determines a first point in time in response to receiving the first reference signal from the second terminal device 120-1, determines a second point in time in response to transmitting the second reference signal at the first device 110, and obtains a first time difference based on the first point in time and the second point in time.

Furthermore, the first terminal device 110 determines a further first point in time in response to receiving a further first reference signal from the third terminal device 120-2, determines a further second point in time in response to transmitting a further second reference signal to the third terminal device 120-2, and obtains a further first time difference based on the further first point in time and the further second point in time.

Furthermore, the first terminal device 110 obtains another first time difference. More specifically, the first terminal device 110 determines another first time point in response to receiving another first reference signal from the fourth terminal device 120-3, determines another second time point in response to transmitting another second reference signal to the fourth terminal device 120-3, and obtains another first time difference according to the another first time point and the another second time point. Thus, the first terminal device 110 may obtain a set of first time differences (including the first time difference, the further first time differences and the first time difference).

In some example embodiments, the second RS transmitting the position-determining terminal device 120 is transmitted in a broadcast manner or in a multicast/multicast manner.

Further, in order to estimate the position more accurately, a bi-directional measurement of the time difference is required, which means that the positioning terminal device 120 also needs to send a corresponding second time difference to the first terminal device 110. The second time difference indicates a difference between a third point in time at which the first RS is transmitted at the second terminal device 120-1 and a fourth point in time at which the second RS is received at the second terminal device 120-1. As shown in fig. 2, the second terminal device 120-1 obtains 270-1 the second time difference and then transmits 280-1 the obtained second time difference to the first terminal device 110 via the third side link resource.

Similar to the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 obtains 270-2 an additional second time difference and transmits 280-2 the obtained additional second time difference to the first terminal device 110, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 obtains 270-3 another second time difference and transmits 280-3 the obtained another second time difference to the first terminal device 110. Thus, the first terminal device 110 may receive a set of second time differences.

The first terminal device 110 may determine 295 its position based at least on the measured set of first time differences and the received set of second time differences. In addition, some additional parameters (e.g., locating the position of the terminal device 120, etc.) are also required in determining the position of the first device 110. It should be appreciated that the location of the positioning terminal device 120 may be obtained in any suitable manner, such as a Global Positioning System (GPS) device, historical information, etc., and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect. In this way, the first terminal device 110 can estimate its position more accurately.

In some example embodiments, the positioning terminal device 120 transmits the second time difference by reusing at least a portion of the side chain resources used to transmit the first RS. For example, for the second terminal device 120-1, the third sidelink resource and the first sidelink resource at least partially overlap. Furthermore, in some example embodiments, the third sidelink resource and the first sidelink resource occupy the same sidelink resource for the second terminal device 120-1.

In this way, no additional side chain resources need to be allocated for the second time difference and the overhead of exchanging signals is further reduced.

With this solution, resource allocation of the transmission RS can be achieved even in a partial coverage or an out-of-coverage scenario.

In addition to the discussion above, during positioning, the positioning terminal device 120 may also send feedback to the first terminal device 110 upon receipt of the first message. Referring now to fig. 3, fig. 3 illustrates a signaling flow 300 of a feedback mechanism during coordinated positioning via side-link resources according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the signaling flow 300 will be described with reference to fig. 1 and 2. The signaling flow 300 may relate to the first terminal device 110 and the positioning terminal device 120 (i.e., the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2, and the fourth terminal device 120-3). Furthermore, the order of signaling and actions in fig. 2 is shown for illustrative purposes only. The order of signaling and actions shown in signaling diagram 200 may be performed in any suitable order suitable for implementing embodiments of the disclosure.

In the signaling flow 300, the first terminal device 110 detects 210 a requirement to obtain its position in response to a trigger condition and determines 220 a plurality of positioning terminal devices 120-1 to 120-3 for acting as positioning terminal devices. The first terminal device 110 then sends 230-1 the first message to the second terminal device 120-1, simultaneously with sending 230-2 the first message to the third terminal device 120-2, and further sends 230-3 the first message to the fourth terminal device 120-3. Further, the first message may indicate respective first side link resources for transmitting the first RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120-1 through 120-3. It should be appreciated that the above process is similar to the process discussed in fig. 2. For brevity, similar descriptions are not repeated herein.

Upon receiving the first message, any positioning terminal device 120 may send feedback to the first terminal device 110. The feedback may be a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement. In some example embodiments, feedback may be implemented through a combination with a current acknowledgement/negative acknowledgement (ACK/NACK) procedure. For example, an ACK may be used as a positive acknowledgement and a NACK may be used as a negative acknowledgement. Alternatively, in other example embodiments, feedback may be implemented by other current feedback mechanisms, e.g., a response message including information indicating the feedback result.

In the signaling flow 300, the third terminal device 120-2 sends 310-1 a negative acknowledgement to the first terminal device 110. For example, in some example embodiments, if the third terminal device 120-2 is unable to successfully decode the first message, the third terminal device 120-2 may send a negative acknowledgement to the first terminal device 110 via the side link. One example of a negative acknowledgement is a NACK. Alternatively, another example of a negative acknowledgement is a response comprising information indicating that decoding the first message failed.

In some example embodiments, in the event that the third terminal device 120-2 can successfully decode the first message, the third terminal device 120-2 can further determine whether the first RS can be transmitted via the fourth sidelink resource indicated by the first message. If the third terminal device 120-2 determines that the third terminal device 120-2 cannot transmit the first RS, the third terminal device 120-2 may transmit a negative acknowledgement indicating that the first RS cannot be transmitted via the fourth side chain resource.

There are many possible reasons for the third terminal device 120-2 to fail to transmit the first RS via the fourth side chain resource. As one example, the third terminal device 120-2 does not have auxiliary positioning capabilities. Alternatively, the second terminal device 120 finds that the side link resources indicated by the first message are not available. It should be appreciated that the third terminal device 120-2 may determine that the first RS cannot be transmitted via the first side link resource indicated by the first message for any suitable reason, and the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

Upon receiving a negative acknowledgement of the first message from the third terminal device 120-2, the first terminal device 110 may know that the third terminal device 120-2 cannot act as a positioning terminal device.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 may directly stop the current positioning procedure in response to receiving a negative acknowledgement.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 first determines whether the current positioning procedure can be successfully implemented without assistance from the third terminal device 120-2. If the first terminal device 110 determines that the current positioning procedure cannot be successfully achieved without the assistance of the third terminal device 120-2, the first terminal device 110 may stop 320-1 the current positioning procedure and additionally initiate a reselection procedure to the positioning terminal device. Otherwise, if the first terminal device 110 determines that the current positioning procedure can be successfully implemented without the assistance of the third terminal device 120-2, the first terminal device 110 may perform the current positioning procedure with other positioning terminal devices.

In some example embodiments, the negative acknowledgement is sent in a broadcast manner or in a multicast/multicast manner. As a result, both the first terminal device 110 and the other positioning terminal devices (i.e., the second terminal device 120-1 and the fourth terminal device 120-3) can receive negative acknowledgements. As shown in fig. 3, the second terminal device 120-1 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 successfully decode the first message and then the second terminal device 120-1 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 listen to the feedback channel. The second terminal device 120-1 receives 310-2 a negative acknowledgement from the third terminal device 120-2 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 receives 310-3 a negative acknowledgement from the third terminal device 120-2.

In some example embodiments, in response to receiving the negative acknowledgement, the second terminal device 120-1 may directly stop 320-2 the current positioning procedure and the fourth terminal device 120-3 may also directly stop 320-3 the current positioning procedure. For example, the second terminal device 120-1 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 stop listening to the second RS from the first terminal device 110 or stop transmitting the first RS to the first terminal device 110 via the respective side link resources indicated by the first message.

In some example embodiments, the second terminal device 120-1 and the fourth terminal device 120-3 may ignore the negative acknowledgement and continue to assist in positioning of the first terminal device 110.

In this way, by sending a negative acknowledgement to the first terminal device 110 and other selected positioning terminal devices, unnecessary subsequent interactions may be avoided in case the current positioning procedure cannot be successfully performed.

Alternatively, in addition to the negative acknowledgement, a positive acknowledgement is sent to the first terminal device 110 and other selected positioning terminal devices. In this way, the first terminal device 110 and other selected positioning terminal devices can timely obtain the state of the current positioning procedure and the resource allocation.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 500 implemented at the first terminal device 110, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the method 500 will be described from the perspective of the first terminal device 110 with reference to fig. 1-3.

At block 510, the first terminal device 110 sends a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices 120 including the second terminal device 120-1, the first message indicating side chain resources for sending RSs from the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120 to the first terminal device 110.

In block 520, the first terminal device 110 receives a first RS for locating the first terminal device 110 from the second terminal device 120-1 via a first sidelink resource determined from the sidelink resources.

In some example embodiments, the first message includes an identification of the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120 to enable the second terminal device 120-1 to determine the first sidelink resource based on the identification.

In some example embodiments, the first message further includes a resource configuration indicating at least side link resources to enable the second terminal device 120-1 to determine the first side link resources based on the identification and the resource configuration.

In some example embodiments, the resource configuration includes a set of resource offsets, each resource offset indicating an offset from a second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources, the second sidelink resource being used to transmit the second RS from the first terminal device 110 to the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 transmits the second message to at least one neighboring device 150 of the first terminal device 110. The second message indicates a second side chain resource for transmitting the second RS from the first terminal device 110 to the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120, and a side chain resource for transmitting the RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120 to the first terminal device 110.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 receives a negative acknowledgement of the first message from the second terminal device 120-1. The negative acknowledgement indicates at least one of: the decoding of the first message fails and the first RS cannot be transmitted via the first side link resource.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 obtains a first time difference. The first time difference indicates a difference between a first point in time at which the first RS is received at the first terminal device 110 and a second point in time at which the second RS is transmitted at the first terminal device 110. The first terminal device 110 obtains the second time difference. The second time difference indicates a difference between a third point in time at which the first RS is transmitted at the second terminal device 120-1 and a fourth point in time at which the second RS is received at the second terminal device 120-1. The first terminal device 110 determines its own position based on at least the first time difference and the second time difference.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 also obtains an additional first time difference. More specifically, the first terminal device 110 determines a further first point in time in response to receiving a further first reference signal from the third terminal device 120-2, determines a further second point in time in response to transmitting a further second reference signal to the third terminal device 120-2, and obtains a further first time difference based on the further first point in time and the further second point in time. Furthermore, the first terminal device 110 obtains another first time difference. More specifically, the first terminal device 110 determines another first time point in response to receiving another first reference signal from the fourth terminal device 120-3, determines another second time point in response to transmitting another second reference signal to the fourth terminal device 120-3, and obtains another first time difference based on the another first time point and the another second time point. Thus, the first terminal device 110 may obtain a set of first time differences (including the first time difference, the further first time differences and the first time difference).

Further, similar to the second terminal device 120-1, the third terminal device 120-2 obtains an additional second time difference and transmits the additional second time difference to the first terminal device 110, and the fourth terminal device 120-3 obtains another second time difference and transmits the another second time difference to the first terminal device 110. Thus, the first terminal device 110 may obtain a set of second time differences (including the second time difference, the further second time difference and the second time). The first terminal device 110 may determine its location based on the measured set of first time differences and the received set of second time differences.

In some example embodiments, the first terminal device 110 transmits the second RS to the second terminal device 120-1 via the second side link resource and receives the time difference for the second RS measured by the second device from the second terminal device 120-1 via the third side link resource.

In some example embodiments, the third side link resource and the first side link resource at least partially overlap.

In some example embodiments, the first message is sent via a physical side chain shared channel.

In some example embodiments, the second message is sent via a physical side link control channel.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 600 implemented at the second terminal device 120-1, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described from the perspective of the second terminal device 120-1 with reference to fig. 1-3.

In block 610, the second terminal device 120-1 receives a first message from the first terminal device 110 indicating side chain resources for transmitting an RS from the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120 including the second terminal device 120-1 to the first terminal device 110.

In block 620, the second terminal device 120-1 determines a first sidelink resource from among the sidelink resources for transmitting the first RS for locating the first terminal device 110.

In block 630, the second terminal device 120-1 transmits the first RS to the first terminal device 110 via the first side link resource.

In some example embodiments, the first message includes an identification of the plurality of positioning terminal devices 120. The second terminal device 120-1 determines the first side link resource based on the identification.

In some example embodiments, the first message further includes a resource configuration indicating at least side chain resources. The second terminal device 120-1 determines the first side link resource based on the identification and the resource configuration.

In some example embodiments, the second terminal device 120-1 sends a negative acknowledgement of the first message to the first terminal device 110 in response to at least one of: decoding of the first message fails; or the first RS cannot be transmitted via the first side link resource.

In some example embodiments, the second terminal device 120-1 receives a further negative acknowledgement of the first message from the third terminal device 120-2 comprised in the positioning terminal device 120, the further negative acknowledgement indicating at least one of: decoding of the first message fails; or no additional first RS can be sent from the third terminal device 120-2 to the first terminal device 110 via the fourth side link resource determined by the third terminal device 120-2 from the side link resource indicated by the first message.

In some example embodiments, the second terminal device 120-1 receives the second RS from the first terminal device 110 via the second side link resource. The second terminal device 120-1 obtains a second time difference. The second time difference indicates a difference between a third point in time at which the first RS is transmitted at the second terminal device 120-1 and a fourth point in time at which the second RS is received at the second terminal device 120-1. The second terminal device 120-1 sends the second time difference to the first terminal device 110 via the third side link resource.

In some example embodiments, wherein the third side link resource and the first side link resource at least partially overlap.

Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 700 suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 700 may be used to implement a communication device, such as the first terminal device 110, the second terminal device 120 shown in fig. 1. As shown, the device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to the processors 710, and one or more communication components 740 coupled to the processors 710.

The communication section 740 is used for bidirectional communication. The communication component 740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communications with one or more other components or devices. The communication interface may represent any interface required to communicate with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication component 740 may include at least one antenna.

Processor 710 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock that is synchronized to the master processor.

Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disk (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic and/or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memory that does not last for the duration of the power outage.

The computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 710. Program 730 may be stored in a memory such as ROM 724. Processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 722.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by the program 730 such that the device 700 may perform any of the processes of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to fig. 2, 3, 5, and 6. Example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage device accessible to the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from a computer readable medium into the RAM 722 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig. 8 shows an example of a computer readable medium 800, which may be in the form of a CD, DVD or other optical storage disc. The computer readable medium has a program 730 stored thereon.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions, such as those included in a program element, that are executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor to perform any of the methods as described above with reference to fig. 3-7. Generally, program components include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data types, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program components may be combined or split between program components as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program components may be executed within local or distributed devices. In distributed devices, program components may be located in both local and remote storage media.

Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable an apparatus, device, or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus or devices, or any suitable combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof.

Moreover, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while the above discussion contains several specific implementation details, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A first terminal device, comprising:

At least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first terminal device to:

transmitting a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including a second terminal device, the first message indicating a side link resource for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, wherein the first message includes identities of the plurality of positioning terminal devices such that the second terminal device can determine a first side link resource from the side link resource based on the identities; and

a first reference signal for locating the first terminal device is received from the second terminal device via the first side link resource.

2. The first terminal device of claim 1, wherein the first message further comprises a resource configuration indicating at least the sidelink resource to enable the second terminal device to determine the first sidelink resource based on the identification and the resource configuration.

3. The first terminal device of claim 2, wherein the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, each resource offset indicating an offset from a second side-chain resource to one of the side-chain resources, the second side-chain resource being used to transmit second reference signals from the first terminal device to the plurality of positioning terminal devices.

4. The first terminal device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first terminal device to:

transmitting a second message to at least one neighboring device of the first terminal device, the second message indicating:

a second side link resource for transmitting a second reference signal from the first terminal device to the plurality of positioning terminal devices, and

and the side link resources are used for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device.

5. The first terminal device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first terminal device to:

receiving a negative acknowledgement of the first message from the second terminal device, the negative acknowledgement indicating at least one of:

decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

The first reference signal cannot be transmitted via the first side link resource.

6. The first terminal device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first terminal device to:

Obtaining a first time difference indicating a difference between a first point in time at which the first reference signal is received at the first terminal device and a second point in time at which a second reference signal is transmitted at the first terminal device;

obtaining a second time difference indicating a difference between a third point in time at which the first reference signal is transmitted at the second terminal device and a fourth point in time at which the second reference signal is received at the second terminal device; and

a location of the first terminal device is determined based at least on the first time difference and the second time difference.

7. The first terminal device of claim 6,

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first terminal device to:

transmitting the second reference signal to the second terminal device via a second side link resource;

and wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first terminal device to obtain the second time difference by:

The second time difference for the second reference signal measured by the second terminal device is received from the second terminal device via a third side link resource.

8. The first terminal device of claim 7, wherein the third sidelink resource and the first sidelink resource at least partially overlap.

9. The first terminal device of claim 1, wherein the first message is sent via a physical side link shared channel.

10. The first terminal device of claim 4, wherein the second message is sent via a physical side link control channel.

11. A second terminal device comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second terminal device to:

receiving a first message from a first terminal device, the first message indicating a side link resource for transmitting reference signals from a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device to the first terminal device, wherein the first message includes identifications of the plurality of positioning terminal devices;

Determining a first sidelink resource from the sidelink resources based on the identification, for transmitting a first reference signal for locating the first terminal device; and

and transmitting the first reference signal to the first terminal equipment through the first side link resource.

12. The second terminal device of claim 11, wherein the first message further comprises a resource configuration indicating at least the side link resources; and is also provided with

Wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second terminal device to determine the first side link resource by:

the first side link resource is determined based on the identification and the resource configuration.

13. The second terminal device of claim 12, wherein the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, each resource offset indicating an offset from a second side-chain resource to one of the side-chain resources, the second side-chain resource being used to transmit a second reference signal from the first terminal device to the plurality of positioning terminal devices.

14. The second terminal device of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second terminal device to:

Transmitting a negative acknowledgement of the first message to the first terminal device in response to at least one of:

decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

15. The second terminal device of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second terminal device to:

receiving a further negative acknowledgement of the first message from a third terminal device comprised in the positioning terminal device, the further negative acknowledgement indicating at least one of:

decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

No further first reference signal can be sent from the third terminal device to the first terminal device via a fourth side link resource determined by the third terminal device from the side link resource indicated by the first message.

16. The second terminal device of claim 11, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second terminal device to:

Receiving a second reference signal from the first terminal device via a second side link resource;

and sending the second time difference to the first terminal equipment through a third side link resource.

17. The second terminal device of claim 16, wherein the third sidelink resource and the first sidelink resource at least partially overlap.

18. The second terminal device of claim 11, wherein the first message is sent via a physical side link shared channel.

19. A method of communication, comprising:

transmitting, at a first terminal device, a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including a second terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, wherein the first message includes identities of the plurality of positioning terminal devices to enable the second terminal device to determine a first side link resource from the side link resources based on the identities; and

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first message further comprises a resource configuration indicating at least the sidelink resource to enable the second terminal device to determine the first sidelink resource based on the identification and the resource configuration.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, each resource offset indicating an offset from a second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources, the second sidelink resource being used for transmitting second reference signals from the first terminal device to the plurality of positioning terminal devices.

22. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

23. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising:

25. The method according to claim 24,

wherein the method further comprises:

And wherein obtaining the second time difference comprises:

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the third side link resource and the first side link resource at least partially overlap.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein the first message is sent via a physical side link shared channel.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the second message is sent via a physical side link control channel.

29. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving, at a second terminal device, a first message from a first terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting reference signals from a plurality of positioning terminal devices including the second terminal device to the first terminal device, wherein the first message includes identifications of the plurality of positioning terminal devices;

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the first message further comprises a resource configuration indicating at least the side-chain resources; and is also provided with

Wherein determining the first side link resource comprises:

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the resource configuration comprises a set of resource offsets, each resource offset indicating an offset from a second sidelink resource to one of the sidelink resources, the second sidelink resource being used for transmitting second reference signals from the first terminal device to the plurality of positioning terminal devices.

32. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

33. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

Decoding of the first message fails; or alternatively

34. The method of claim 29, further comprising:

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the third side link resource and the first side link resource at least partially overlap.

36. The method of claim 29, wherein the first message is sent via a physical side link shared channel.

37. A first terminal device comprising means for:

Transmitting a first message to a plurality of positioning terminal devices including a second terminal device, the first message indicating side link resources for transmitting reference signals from the plurality of positioning terminal devices to the first terminal device, wherein the first message includes identities of the plurality of positioning terminal devices to enable the second terminal device to determine a first side link resource from the side link resources based on the identities; and

38. A second terminal device comprising means for:

the first reference signal is transmitted to the first terminal device via the first side link resource.

39. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any one of claims 19 to 28.

40. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any one of claims 29 to 36.